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Published On May 3, 2006
POLICY
Blood Count
The need for—and dearth of—one precious commodity.
2
Seconds that pass until another American needs a transfusion
4,500,000
Number of American lives saved each year by transfusions
48
Gallons of blood an American could donate if she began giving at age 17 and gave every 56 days until reaching age 76
5
Estimated annual percentage of eligible Americans who donate
500,000
Number of Americans who donated in the days following the September 11 attacks
29,000,000
Number of units of blood components transfused in 2001 (a single donation can be divided into plasma, platelets and red blood cells)
2
Times as likely heart patients are to die after a transfusion to treat blood loss or anemia as heart patients who do not receive a transfusion, possibly because of such problems as artery disease aggravated by the transfusion.
Dispatches
Medicine and the Makers Roderic Pettigrew is training a new hybrid specialty—half physician, half engineer.
Sins of the Past The California Death Certificate Project is finding the physicians associated with opioid overdoses. Is it justice or a witch hunt?
Prohibition at 100 The 18th Amendment launched the most sweeping health experiment in U.S. history. Physicians—then and now—have debated its complex legacy.
Where Have All the Microbes Gone? Internist and researcher Martin Blaser believes that disturbances in the gut may underlie several modern maladies.
Podcast: Can AI Save Us from Despair? Psychiatry is finding its footing with machine intelligence. New tools may dramatically help those who need it the most.
A New Iron Age As more bacteria gain resistance to standard treatments, is the answer a return to therapeutic metals?
The Pharmacist Will See You Now As the role of the pharmacist changes, one program explores how it can help people with heart disease and other conditions.
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